(a)The authority shall be vested in the Director of the Division of Environmental Quality and such other persons as designated by the director to administer and enforce the provisions of this chapter. The director shall seek the accomplishment of the purposes of this chapter by all practicable and economically feasible methods, and in doing so, shall have the following duties and powers:
(1)To make those expenditures which he or she deems necessary to accomplish the purposes of this chapter;
(2)To issue permits and set permit fees pursuant to the provisions in this chapter;
(3)To conduct settlement conferences pursuant to the provisions in this chapter;
(4)To prepare and require permittees to prepare reports;
(5)To enter on and inspect a surface coal mining operation and all records
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(a) The authority shall be vested in the Director of the Division of Environmental Quality and such other persons as designated by the director to administer and enforce the provisions of this chapter. The director shall seek the accomplishment of the purposes of this chapter by all practicable and economically feasible methods, and in doing so, shall have the following duties and powers: (1) To make those expenditures which he or she deems necessary to accomplish the purposes of this chapter; (2) To issue permits and set permit fees pursuant to the provisions in this chapter; (3) To conduct settlement conferences pursuant to the provisions in this chapter; (4) To prepare and require permittees to prepare reports; (5) To enter on and inspect a surface coal mining operation and all records related thereto which are subject to the provisions of this chapter upon presentation of appropriate identifying credentials; (6) To issue or modify orders requiring an operator to take actions that are reasonably necessary to comply with this chapter or rules issued pursuant to this chapter; (7) To issue an order ordering a cessation of surface coal mining or reclamation operations or revoking the permit of an operator who has failed to comply with an order of the director to take action required by this chapter or rules issued pursuant to this chapter; or, in the event the permit is revoked, to cause the operator's performance bond, cash, or collateral securities to be forfeited if it is determined that it is necessary to reclaim the area of land affected by the operator's surface coal mining operation; (8) To require training, examination, and certification of persons engaging in or directly responsible for blasting or use of explosives in surface coal mining operations; (9) To receive by gift, grant, donation, or otherwise any sum of money, or assistance from any person or the United States, its agencies, the State of Arkansas, or any agency or political subdivision thereof, for the enactment and enforcement of this chapter and the mining and reclamation of land affected by surface coal mining operations; (10) To conduct, encourage, request, and participate in studies, surveys, investigations, research, experiments, training, and demonstrations by contract, grant, or otherwise; (11) To collect and disseminate to the public, information considered reasonable and necessary for the proper enforcement of this chapter; (12) To employ such officers, agents, employees, and professional personnel, including legal counsel, as the director deems necessary for the performance of his or her powers and duties, and to prescribe the powers and duties and to fix the compensation of officers, agents, employees, and professional personnel; (13) To contract upon such terms as the director may agree upon for legal, financial, engineering, and other professional services necessary to expedite the conduct of the affairs of the Division of Environmental Quality under the provisions of this chapter; (14) To enter into cooperative projects or contracts with federal agencies, state boards, agencies, and soil and water conservation districts having expertise for the purposes of obtaining professional and technical services necessary to implement the provisions of this chapter; and to transfer funds to those boards, agencies, or districts; (15) To enter into a cooperative agreement with the United States Secretary of the Interior to provide for state regulation of surface coal mining and reclamation operations on federal lands within this state; (16) To represent the state in all matters involving or affecting the interest of the state and its residents relative to the proceedings before any federal agencies, officers, and congressional committees, and in all judicial actions arising out of the proceedings of such agencies, offices, and committees, or in relation thereto, and to appear in the courts and before agencies of this state or in other states in order to carry out the purposes of this chapter; (17) To commence and prosecute all forms of legal actions as may be necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter, including legal actions against the United States Secretary of the Interior and the United States Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement; (18) To establish for the purpose of avoiding duplication a process for coordinating inspections and the review and issuance of permits for surface coal mining and reclamation operations with any other federal or state permit process applicable to the proposed operations; (19) To submit to the United States Secretary of the Interior a state abandoned mine reclamation program, annual projects which will carry out the purpose of the state abandoned mine reclamation program, and other reports as the United States Secretary of the Interior may require or as may be necessary in the administration of the state abandoned mine reclamation program; and to submit to the United States Congress annual reports on January 1 of each year on operations under the state abandoned mine reclamation program, together with recommendations as to further uses of the fund; (20) To apply for, receive, and segregate the state abandoned mine reclamation funds into a special account, to spend the moneys in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and the rules issued by the Arkansas Pollution Control and Ecology Commission, and to prepare and submit to the United States Secretary of the Interior information as required in the administration of the state abandoned mine reclamation program; (21) To sell land acquired pursuant to the state abandoned mine reclamation program by public sale under a system of competitive bidding at not less than fair market value and in accordance with rules issued by the commission; (22) To construct and operate plants for the control and treatment of water pollution resulting from mine drainage; and (23) To perform other duties and acts required by and provided for in this chapter or reasonably necessary to carry out the purposes of this chapter or the rules issued pursuant to this chapter. (b) The director shall have the right to grant variances to the requirements of this chapter and the rules issued pursuant to this chapter in the issuance of any permit pursuant to this chapter or, upon application of a permittee to amend an issued permit to allow a variance when variances are permitted by an amendment to the Surface Mining Control and Reclamation Act of 1977, Pub. L. No. 95-87, subsequent to the enactment of this chapter.